The politics of wine
Did you know that till just 50 years back (1960), the largest wine exporter in the world was Algeria, not France, Italy, Spain or even Australia?
Coming across the eponymous article in www.wine-economics.org by Giulia Meloni and Johan Swinnen, I couldn’t resist reading it in its 42-page entirety, and am taking the liberty of delivering a précis of what surely is one of the most fascinating tales of endeavour and heartbreak in the wine world.
France annexed Algeria in 1830, and fought a bloody insurgency there from 1954 till 1962, when Algeria attained independence. While French settlers in Algeria up to the 1860s did try to grow wine grapes and produce wine, they were mainly ex-army personnel with little knowledge or experience and did not meet with any marked success.
However, the onset of Phylloxera (caused by a microscopic aphid that destroyed the roots of wine grapes) in Europe from the mid-1860s resulted in widespread devastation of vineyards there: between 1875 and 1889, 40-45 per cent of the vineyards in France were destroyed, and wine production fell by 70 per cent. This also resulted in large-scale migration of people from the affected areas, and a reported 50,000 families relocated to Algeria between 1871 and 1900 — a majority of these were vignerons with generations of knowledge about growing grapes and making wine.
The shortage of wine in France led to wide-spread fraud (this was when the term “old wine in new bottles” was coined) and import of bulk and bottled wine from other countries — and Algeria, being a “province” of France, stepped in to fill the breach. Wine production in Algeria increased from 20 million litres in 1872 to 500 million litres by 1900, 1 billion litres by 1915, and 2 billion litres by 1935 with exports to France alone being about 500 million litres annually in 1905 and 1.5 billion litres by 1935! Put into perspective, this means that there was more wine being produced (and exported) in Algeria at its peak than any country worldwide except France, Italy, and Spain.
Once the cause of Phylloxera (a root louse) was discovered and a solution (grafting vines onto Phylloxera-resistant rootstock) was evolved, vineyards in France were “reconstituted” and came back into production. With supplies now being as high as ever this (naturally) led to a steep fall in wine prices, and led in turn to the imposition of regional boundaries (appellations) for all wines being sold in France, including wine from Algeria — this eventually (1935) formed the base for the AOC (Appellations d’Origine Contrôlées) system still in force in France.
Independence in 1962 for Algeria dealt a death-blow to its wine industry, with production declining from 1.5 billion litres in 1962 to 60 million litres in 2009, and exports to only 1.7 million litres. The largest wine exporter in the world was quickly reduced to virtually nothing in just five years as its main customer (France) was now another country and no longer wanted Algerian wine; nationalisation of the industry in Algeria in 1968 compounded its woes. What a story!
Wines I’ve been drinking:
A variety of wines were showcased at a Wine Carnival held last week at the Bangalore Club, and club members sipped their way through wines from 12 producers and importers. The wine I particularly liked was the Saint Clair Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from New Zealand: powerful aroma of passion fruit, grapefruit and ripe guava and a crisp balanced medium-bodied taste that fully justified its high rating (89 points) from Wine Spectator.
Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant
Coming across the eponymous article in www.wine-economics.org by Giulia Meloni and Johan Swinnen, I couldn’t resist reading it in its 42-page entirety, and am taking the liberty of delivering a précis of what surely is one of the most fascinating tales of endeavour and heartbreak in the wine world.
France annexed Algeria in 1830, and fought a bloody insurgency there from 1954 till 1962, when Algeria attained independence. While French settlers in Algeria up to the 1860s did try to grow wine grapes and produce wine, they were mainly ex-army personnel with little knowledge or experience and did not meet with any marked success.
However, the onset of Phylloxera (caused by a microscopic aphid that destroyed the roots of wine grapes) in Europe from the mid-1860s resulted in widespread devastation of vineyards there: between 1875 and 1889, 40-45 per cent of the vineyards in France were destroyed, and wine production fell by 70 per cent. This also resulted in large-scale migration of people from the affected areas, and a reported 50,000 families relocated to Algeria between 1871 and 1900 — a majority of these were vignerons with generations of knowledge about growing grapes and making wine.
The shortage of wine in France led to wide-spread fraud (this was when the term “old wine in new bottles” was coined) and import of bulk and bottled wine from other countries — and Algeria, being a “province” of France, stepped in to fill the breach. Wine production in Algeria increased from 20 million litres in 1872 to 500 million litres by 1900, 1 billion litres by 1915, and 2 billion litres by 1935 with exports to France alone being about 500 million litres annually in 1905 and 1.5 billion litres by 1935! Put into perspective, this means that there was more wine being produced (and exported) in Algeria at its peak than any country worldwide except France, Italy, and Spain.
Once the cause of Phylloxera (a root louse) was discovered and a solution (grafting vines onto Phylloxera-resistant rootstock) was evolved, vineyards in France were “reconstituted” and came back into production. With supplies now being as high as ever this (naturally) led to a steep fall in wine prices, and led in turn to the imposition of regional boundaries (appellations) for all wines being sold in France, including wine from Algeria — this eventually (1935) formed the base for the AOC (Appellations d’Origine Contrôlées) system still in force in France.
Independence in 1962 for Algeria dealt a death-blow to its wine industry, with production declining from 1.5 billion litres in 1962 to 60 million litres in 2009, and exports to only 1.7 million litres. The largest wine exporter in the world was quickly reduced to virtually nothing in just five years as its main customer (France) was now another country and no longer wanted Algerian wine; nationalisation of the industry in Algeria in 1968 compounded its woes. What a story!
Wines I’ve been drinking:
A variety of wines were showcased at a Wine Carnival held last week at the Bangalore Club, and club members sipped their way through wines from 12 producers and importers. The wine I particularly liked was the Saint Clair Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from New Zealand: powerful aroma of passion fruit, grapefruit and ripe guava and a crisp balanced medium-bodied taste that fully justified its high rating (89 points) from Wine Spectator.
Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant